San Jose: Men arrested in post-sideshow cop car attack granted release

SAN JOSE — A judge has ordered that two Arizona men charged in a violent attack on a police vehicle following a sideshow near Santana Row be released from jail to a South Bay treatment center while their case is prosecuted.

Gabe Durbin, 26, and Tyler Durbin, 22, both Arizona residents, were arrested June 19 and were remanded to jail without bail after their arraignment Monday. On Friday, Judge Hector Ramon changed course and approved their transfer to a sober-living facility over the objection of the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office.

In doing so, Ramon also denied requests by the Durbin brothers that they be allowed to return to Arizona, and said he shared the concern from Deputy District Attorney Timothy Moore that such a scenario would diminish the likelihood that they make their court appearances.

Ramon ordered as part of the Durbins’ release conditions that they submit to electronic monitoring and prohibited them from searching for any information about sideshows.

The judge’s decision was informed in part by arguments by Deputy Alternate Defender Heather Harris and Deputy Public Defender Patrick Geddes that the brothers had no history of violence and had already secured approval to be taken in by a San Jose-based treatment facility.

Harris emphasized Tyler Durbin’s young age and described him as remorseful for what he did.

“Tyler got caught up in the moment and made a series of poor decisions, but that is primarily because of his youth,” she told the judge. “He did admit to his participation, and he admitted he regretted the decision.”

In arguing against release for the two, Moore wrote in a filed motion that “the defendants were part of a group who attacked a San Jose police officer without provocation or justification, and “delayed the officer in reaching a civilian who had been knocked unconscious during a sideshow event.”

In court Friday, Moore contended that a sober-living facility was not a proper match for the defendants, given that at least Tyler Durbin did not present any evidence of substance abuse.

“The treatment aspect of this placement is irrelevant for public safety, and simply a place to go so they don’t sit in jail,” Moore said.

The defense attorneys and Moore also sparred over the Durbins’ ties to the area, which consists of time living in Salinas and brief stints in San Jose, juxtaposed with multiple moves to Arizona, where their mother lives. They reportedly told authorities that they were in the area to vacate a Salinas storage unit rented by their mother.

The brothers face felony charges of assault on a peace officer, resisting arrest, and vandalism, along with an additional misdemeanor charge of resisting arrest, in connection with the June 15 encounter just before 7 p.m. on Winchester Boulevard near Olin Avenue, along the western edge of Santana Row.

According to police and an eyewitness video disseminated on social media, a reserve police officer was the first to respond to a report of a spectator being hit and injured by a Nissan sedan driver performing doughnuts in a sideshow at the intersection.

As the officer drove within about 30 yards of the site, he was quickly surrounded by a crowd, some of whom were wearing ski masks over their faces. Several people started punching and kicking the officer’s patrol SUV as the officer drove in reverse away from the crowd. In the video, a masked person could be seen jumping onto the vehicle’s hood and stomping and kicking in the windshield.

Moore’s motion provides more detail, citing a police investigation alleging that Gabe Durbin tried to force his way into the driver’s side of a San Jose police officer’s patrol vehicle and that Tyler Durbin punched the vehicle’s windshield as a still-unidentified masked man jumped on and stomped the vehicle’s hood and kicked the windshield.

The fracas broke up when Santa Clara police officers arrived; the San Jose officer reportedly suffered a cut on his hand from broken glass when the windshield broke apart.

An ensuing investigation, drawing on the posted videos, identified the Durbin brothers as participants, and they were later arrested in San Juan Bautista.

After being arrested, Tyler Durbin reportedly admitted to investigators that he was at the Santana Row sideshow and punched the patrol vehicle “once or twice,” according to the prosecutors’ bail motion. Gabe Durbin reportedly denied being in San Jose, though he did admit to traveling to California with his brother.

Police have said that detectives continue to search for other participants in the attack.